About a week ago, I talked about  my Purple Fountain Grass, and I mentioned that historically, Purple Fountain Grass has been part of of my Autumn Gardens.

Pumpkin and Purple Fountain Grass – Jacki Kellum Garden

Unflortunately, I trampled my little Purple Fountain Grass when I was erecting my new rose arbor, and he is stunted a bit. But hopefully, he will regain his vigor in time for autumn.

A couple of days later, I said that I was sowing some new Sunflower seeds so that I could enjoy them in my autumn garden.

Although I have had sunflowers in my garden all summer, something within myself tells me that they must also be part of my celebration of fall.

Jacki Kellum Self-Portrait Scarecrow in Her New Jersey Garden

I have an internal clock that tells me what should be part of my garden during every season of my year, and I try not to deviate too far from that routine.

Goldenrod and Wild Oldfield Aster in My Garden October 2023

Hardy Chrysanthemums and Wild Oldfield Aster in My Garden October 2023

During the early part of last summer, I moved some goldenrod and a wild aster to my garden.  I enjoyed watching those plants interacting with my hardy mums in October. I have found  goldenrod recipes, and this fall I hope to harvest some of the goldenrod to make oils and salves. There is a huge stand of goldenrod in the empty lot next to my yard,

How to Make Goldenrod Salve

How to Naturally Dye Fabric with Goldenrod

I lived in New Jersey for 18 years, and because Black-Eyed Seasons bloomed later there than they do in Mississippi, I associate them with autumn, too, but I have been painting Black-Eyed Susans from my garden at least since mid-June:

Summer Bouquet in a Blue Jar – Jacki Kellum Watercolor Painting

Again, my feeling about the Seasons in Nature is an Internal Thing. In my mind, some things should be part of an autumnal celebration, and some things should be part of a spring celebration–and so on.

With these discrepncies in mind, I do try to have something special going on in my garden all year long, and that requires a great deal of planning and work ahead of each season.

On July 25, I planted some Camellias to add winter interest to my garden.  But I’ve been planning for and creating a spot for those camellias for over a year.

Welcoming Kanjiro Camellia to My Garden Home – A Gorgeous Evergreen Shrub for My 4-Season Garden

About this time last year, I ordered spring bulbs for this past spring:

Daffodils, Jonquils, and Other Spring Bulbs in My Garden for 2024

But my garden soil was not prepared, and I did not plant them on time. I’ll probably have to reorder those bulbs again. 

Not long after that, however, I added a vast amount of garden soil, and during the late fall, I planted wild flower seeds that were beautiful in my summer garden this year.

Generally speaking, however, winter is a time of lying fallow. It is a time of rest, but it is not a time to forget about nature. Even during winter, nature has a song.

Last year during an ice storm, I walked to my back door and saw a mockingbird sitting on a little arbor at the back of my garden, and I was sad that I had no food for him. It was as though he had a mission that day, and after that day, I began planning my winter feeding stations and my walk-through arbor so that I would not allow another winter to pass without a way to feed my hungry birds. I finished that project this week — in July, but I began planning the arbor in Janruay, when I wrote the following:

Little shards of sleet fell upon the frozen ground.
A mockingbird greeted me at my back door.
Chittering chinks of ice filled the sky.
Jacki Kellum Journal Entry January 15, 2024

It is true that until it doesn’t, springs will follow winters,  and like clockwork, life will progress from season to season. But more than that, I feel it is necessary to have a successful Four Season Garden. The bottom line is that a great deal of timing and preparation are necessary for a garden to be delightful all year longing. A gardener needs to know what blooms when, and he must further know how to stage seasonal plants to fully captialize on what each plant has to offer his garden. And finally, a great deal of work–daily work–is necessary for a plan to  materialize.